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| Template Options |
I looked through the free templates and settled on this one below.
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| Original template |
I modified the text to reflect something relevant to our course, INTE 5340. I title this: "I Got 99 Problems But hypothes.is Ain't One..."
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| "I Got 99 Problems But hypothes.is Ain't One..." |
But then I thought, "Ok, that was a little too easy. What if I want my students to make a comic strip that was science-related?" Then I decided to check out Pixton. It is a website that allows teachers to not only create their own comics but also assign projects through their website. A subscription for teachers comes in at around $9 a month. However, anyone can try it out and play with it. It has a ton of backgrounds and characters to choose from. There is a brief tutorial you can go through to become familiar with using Pixton, and then you can try making your own. In general, Pixton is very user-friendly, and I could see myself assigning projects to my students using Pixton. Pixton allows you to try making up to 9 panels for free. It won't allow you to download the completed comic without a subscription, but you can share your comic using a link. This may be one way for me to have students use this site for free (without having to get my own subscription). As a science teacher, I don't see myself assigning making comics more than a few times a year, so I don't think I can justify a monthly subscription. However, I could have my students make a comic in the "free" mode, and then they could share the link to their comic with me, and I could assess their comics that way.
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| What the site looks like logged in as a teacher. You can create groups and assign activities using Pixton. |
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| Some of the body positions you can choose from |
Once you are done with your comic, you can publish it to Pixton. You can also click on a box to allow others to remix your comic.
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| Pixton gives you the option to allow others to remix your comic |
I wanted to make a "hard copy" for myself, so I decided to take screenshots of my comic strip from the Pixton website, and then I put them into a poster on Canva. Sorry, Pixton! Maybe if I find that I will assign comics to my students on a regular basis will I spend the extra $9/month on a subscription, but as I mentioned before, if I only assign it a few times a year, I won't spend the $100+ per year on this. I can just have my students send me the links to their comics. A subscription however, unlocks some really nice features and allows for the use of more than 9 panels. So, if you are a teacher who intends to assign comic-based projects on a regular basis, I think the $9/month subscription is worth the investment.
I think using comics is a great way to build writing and literacy skills while also incorporating scientific content. Pixton is easy to use, and I can see students using this website in my classes. Comics are a great alternative assignment to a typical lab report or Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) assignment. I'm not one to do away with those more traditional writing projects, since primary scientific writing skills are important for my student to develop if they intend to move on to college, which most do. But I think this would be a fun assignment to give my students to work on every so often, or in conjunction with a lab report or CER.
Try it out for yourself! Pixton is a fun online tool to use that I think students will enjoy playing with.
Postscriptum - I have had to modify and edit my comic multiple times. I just kept finding grammatical errors and typos. I will need to keep this in mind when assigning this to students. I will want to have students proofread each other's work before submitting a final version to me.
@_lizabethphilip Sorry, deleted last post. Noticed grammatical errors in comic and updated it. Bad teacher 😏— Jasmine Yap (@dr_yap) July 17, 2017
Ok, seriously on the grammar struggle bus today 🤪 Caught more errors. Doh! 🤦 Understanding comics, Part 3. #inte5340 https://t.co/pTWYjV7vTy pic.twitter.com/EGoRkZ9kbm— Jasmine Yap (@dr_yap) July 17, 2017
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